Asia Argento Calls Friend Who Released Text Exchange

Asia Argento was one of the first in a long line of accusers to come forward against former Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein. Recently, it was discovered that she had sex with a minor. The proof was in text messages she sent to a friend who was identified Monday as Rain Dove.

Dove Told Fox News, "I did it because it’s just the right thing to do." The 28-year-old Dove, who prefers non-gendered pronouns, explained, "I gave this person the opportunity, to be honest, and they chose not to be, and I didn’t want to be complicit, so I turned them into the police."

Dove revealed the text message exchange took place when Argento reached out just one day before The New York Times article was published. The report outlined an alleged sexual assault on a 17-year-old actor and musician named Jimmy Bennett carried out by Argento herself, a figurehead of the #MeToo movement.

Bennett accused Argento of setting up a sexual encounter in California with him in 2013 when he was just 17 and the actress was 37. The legal age of consent in California is 18 and police have reached out to Bennett to determine whether a criminal investigation is warranted. "It basically said, ‘I’m in deep s**t. I just barely got this message that, like, I’m going to be sunk," Dove said describing the initial text message from Argento.

When the media reached out to Argento for comment, Dove advised the actress to respond with the truth. "I talked to her and asked her how much of it was BS and how much of it was real, and she said she was completely 100 percent innocent, and she just wanted to get back on track to being an activist in the community," Dove said. "So I offered to help walk her through the process of what she would need in order to clear her name."

Dove claims that during their exchange "it became increasingly apparent that this individual was not only, not telling the truth, but that they didn’t intend on ever telling the truth to the public. By the end of it, we went from, ‘Never slept with anyone and did not do anything’ to ‘I slept with this person. I’ve received nude images from them for years and didn’t report them and/or asked them to stop, and I’ve continued my communications with this person in a sexual manner."

The model was adamant they gave Argento a chance to be honest and let the now-42-year-old know that they "felt very strongly that she should do something about it, she should say something, and try to live up to her own ethos". Despite reaching out to Dove for advice, Argento went ahead and denied the allegations saying:

"I strongly deny and oppose the contents of The New York Times article dated August 20, 2018, as circulated also in the national and international news. I am deeply shocked and hurt by having read a news that is absolutely false. I have never had any sexual relationship with Bennett."

Dove added, "I spoke to Argento after the texts got leaked, and she was convinced Rose and I had leaked the text messages, but of course, in fact, we did not." The model did admit giving the messages to the police. "I told her that, 'I have to be honest with you, I brought them to the police.' She said that I’m a monster."